MALAYSIA — A heartwarming video of a primary school student from SJKC (Chinese Primary School under the government) singing and dancing for his Malay classmate on her birthday has been widely praised by the public.
The heartwarming scene was captured in a TikTok video posted by the teacher, Elden Chan, and has since gone viral.
@eldenchan17 Pengsan saya🤣🤣🤣🤣
In the video, the Chinese primary school boy can be seen impressively singing and dancing to ‘Happy Birthday’ in Mandarin while his classmates join in to celebrate the special occasion of the female Malay student.
Despite the girl being masked, her charming laugh and the warm and affectionate environment created by her classmates are evident.
TikTok users have praised the video for its depiction of harmony and diversity, with one user expressing a desire for more environments like this.
Other TikTokers related the video to the iconic Petronas advertisement, directed by prominent Malaysian film-maker late Yasmin Ahmad, which portrayed a similar scene of innocent puppy love between primary school students.
Ameerah wrote: “I remember the Petronas ad where a Chinese kid had a crush on a Malay kid.”
Nor Hidayah Yusof wrote: “I thought of the ad during Raya a long time ago, about a Chinese boy who likes a Malay girl. Is this the offspring of the same boy? He act like they have the same behavior.”
In reply, another TikToker recalled the name of the young couple in the ads, Tan Hong Ming, who had a crush on Ummi Qazrina.
TikToker Poy said that children are color-blind, and it is adults who bring up racism.
“I hope these children can remain in harmony until they grow up.”
The heartwarming TikTok clip serves as a reminder of the importance of embracing diversity and fostering a sense of community among young people, and has undoubtedly warmed the hearts of many.
In 2007, the late Yasmin Ahmad directed an adorable PETRONAS advertisement featuring primary school student Tan Hong Ming, who could hardly hide his affection towards his classmate Umi Qazrina, and wanted to ask her out on a date.
In the video, Umi appears on camera for her interview segment, while Hong Ming stands idly by, grinning at her.
When asked if she has a boyfriend, Umi says that Hong Ming is her boyfriend, to which he reacts in an animated way, with shock and innocence, his jaw gaping.
The couple then walks off into the distance, holding hands and probably discussing whether they want to be a couple or not.
The video ends with a text from PETRONAS that reads, “Our children are colour blind. Shouldn’t we keep them that way?”
